This business of watching movies for a living always runs in ebbs and flows. The end of the year always brings a slew of great films, all vying for Oscars. Then, when the New Year begins, there is forgettable tripe such as Are We There Yet?, Hide and Seek, and the atrocious, laughably inept Alone in the Dark.

As the year progresses, the flow begins to pick up. A case in point is Swimming Upstream, based on a true story. This film was shot on location in Australia several years ago, and only now has been picked up for release in the U.S. by MGM. That begs the question: What took them so long? Shine Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush stars as the drunken, abusive father of five children, a bitter man who had dreamed of playing professional Australian Rules Football. Judy Davis, the superb Australian actress, is his long-suffering wife. The story revolves around two of their four sons, both champion swimmers with eyes on the Empire Games and eventually, the Olympics. The quirky Drop Dead Fred’s co-writer and executive producer Anthony (Tony) Fingleton produced and co-wrote (with his sister, Diane) this autobiographical story about growing up with a father who favored his younger brother, didn’t love him, and didn’t care how he succeeded in the pool - or in anything else.

It isn’t a pretty picture, but it is a compelling one. This straightforward story of a young man who comes to realize the true meaning of success is inspirational. Mitchell Dellevergin is especially poignant as the younger Tony, unable to please his Father from Hell; Jesse Spencer stars as the young-adult athlete Tony. The working class section of Brisbane, where it was filmed, presents an authentic-looking late 50s/early 60s backdrop, although director Russell Mulcahy effectively incorporates contemporary split-screen editing and an elec-tronic music score. This is one of the first worthwhile films of the New Year. Ebbs and flows, ebbs and flows...

Miramax’s Bride and Prejudice is directed by Gurinder Chadha, who also directed Bend It Like Beckham. Whereas the latter film was one of the best movies of 2003, this one is just silly. The title and story are inspired by the 1813 Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. Read the first sentence: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” and you’ll have a heads-up on the plot.

The Bakshis of the village of Amritsar, in India (instead of the Bennets of Meryton, in England), are the parents of four unmarried daughters who are in want of wealthy husbands. The witty, strong-willed second eldest, Lalita (Austen’s Elizabeth), is portrayed by Aishwarya Rai, India’s most famous actress. She meets and spars with her Darcy, an American hotel heir, played by Martin Henderson, whose best friend is a British Indian (the novel’s Bingley). The ensuing rocky romance leads to the expected resolution. Rai, soon to be seen in Chaos with Meryl Streep and Singularity with Brendan Fraser, was recently featured on Sixty Minutes, during which the point was made that in the dozens of movies she’s made in India, she’s never been kissed on-screen. Don’t hold your breath waiting to see this much-anticipated first, here. Whenever the characters are heading in that direction, they spontaneously burst into song. The “Bollywood” formula, so popular in India, seems forced here; it doesn’t travel well. Still, Rai is a stunning, charismatic screen presence who soon will put this fluff behind her.

Rory O’Shea Was Here, featuring two friends who are confined to wheelchairs, is a little movie getting gradual release that will touch your heart. Michael, portrayed by Steven Robertson, has lived his entire life in a residential-care facility in Dublin, Ireland, when suddenly, the title character, portrayed by James McAvoy, arrives to stir things up. Although Michael can’t speak clearly, due to cerebral palsy, Rory, who has muscular dystrophy and just partial movement of his head and right hand, can understand his new friend, and translates for him, when necessary. The new resident just won’t accept spending the rest of his life in the institution, run by Eileen, the inflexible but kindly supervisor, played by the wonderful Brenda Fricker. Together, Rory and Michael find a way to get an apartment and live independently. The spike-haired, nose-ringed, club-loving Rory speaks his mind, whatever the consequences. Emotions are honest, and the film is never preachy.

Robertson, making an amazing screen debut, will soon appear in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, and in The Libertine, with Johnny Depp. The other principal character is Siobhán, the beautiful young attendant, portrayed by the English actress Romola Garai, whom the young men hire to minister to their unique daily needs. Irish-born director Damien O’Donnell has carefully crafted a tender yet upbeat story of two feisty, courageous young men whose determination is life-affirming.

Speaking of courage, don’t miss Sister Rose’s Passion, a feature documentary that won a well-deserved Oscar nomination this year. It was produced by Steve Kalafer and Peter LeDonne, whose Flemington-based company, New Jersey Studios, creates projects focusing on people and themes from that state. This gem tells the unique life story of 84-year-old Sister Rose Thering, a Domincan nun born in Plain, Wis., who joined the Institute of Judeo-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, became a professor emeritus, and founded the National Christian Leadership Conference. Through scholarship (her dissertation examined the textbooks used in the Roman Catholic Church), interfaith work, and deeply held conviction, she lead a movement to change the divisive misconception that has been at the root of anti-Semitism for centuries, nearly single-handedly convincing the 1962-1965 Vatican II ecumenical council to repudiate the ancient belief that the Jews killed Christ. This marvelous, down-to-earth woman comes alive through the veracity and justice of her life’s work. It is unlike any short documentary I have ever seen.

Remember, spring (with a crop of new films) is just beginning...